Carpinteria Unified School District welcomed back student and faculty for the first day of school

CARPINTERIA, Calif. - Carpinteria Unified School District kicked off the new school year Monday, with administrators calling the first day back a huge success.

The district has undergone a major transformation.

“We have a wonderful community that supports the schools and in 2014 they passed a bond measure to modernize our schools because they were falling apart and they were all built years and years ago,” said Superintendent Diana Rigby.

Thanks to the $90 million dollar Measure U, Canalino Elementary School now has brand new building restrooms, offices, and an additional classroom.
A brand new administration building at the high school was completed two weeks ago, as well.

“All of our students and staff deserve to be surrounded by beauty and to be in wonderful learning environments,” said Rigby.

Meanwhile, administrators say their staffing is now in much better shape just in time for the new school year.

Thanks to 2 job fairs, the district hired about 75 new staff members.

But Superintendent Diana Rigby tells us they still need instructional assistants, custodians, and bus drivers.

“Unfortunately, we can't provide home to school transportation this first semester because we do not have enough bus drivers,” said Rigby.

As the district looks to hire more staff throughout the year, administrators say they're happy to have students back.

“Today, I saw a lot of smiles. I saw a lot of eager students with, as I said, with their new clothes in their backpacks. And they were rushing in and they came early,” chuckled Rigby.